Anderson should have stayed classy

I haven’t talked to Craig Anderson since he was traded, despite asking to, and I know a quote I excerpted from an NHL.com story from him did not contain “Colorado Avalanche” anywhere in it.
But we’re not stupid. It doesn’t take much to infer Anderson was taking a parting shot at the Avalanche with his “For me, it’s not about the money. It’s about having a good fit and finding a place where I’m going to be happy, where players are treated with respect and the organization communicates with their players.”

I’ve been one who has said the Avs should have tried harder to keep Anderson, and basically been a supporter of his in all aspects. But that quote – assuming it’s accurate – showed a lack of class by No. 41.
Especially considering:
– The Avalanche is the organization that reached out to him and gave his career a new lease on life in 2009. He’d been a backup his whole career and could have stayed that way, but the Avs gave him a two-year, $3.6 million contract.

– The Avalanche is the organization that played him 71 games his first season in town. Granted, Anderson played well enough to warrant everyday playing status, but nobody else had ever done that before.

– The Avalanche is the organization that offered him a two-year, $7.5 million contract before this season to stay on. That would have been a nearly 200-percent raise over what he’d made, on average, the previous two years. The money was fair. He wanted a longer-term offer, the kind he got in Ottawa, but didn’t get it. Did he pout after that, and not put forth a full effort with the Avs after that? I know a lot of people believe that, but what good would it really do his career to do that? But the fact is, he wasn’t as good and he can’t blame the Avs for shying away from wanting to hold more contract talks based on his play.

– The Avalanche is the organization that granted him a short leave of absence this season, when some family medical issues surfaced.

Anderson, I still maintain, is an excellent goalie and will show that in Ottawa – as he has since going there. But the Avs didn’t quite deserve to be dumped on like that. Without the Avs, that contract might never have happened.